#16 | Rodri - 2020/21 Performances

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ninjamonkey said:
No surprise he has one of his better games against Burnley. He likes playing against them as much as the Goat did.

I think the new system suits him a lot better, he drops into the defence as he was doing beforehand but now that's what is being asked of him, his mobility issues are less of a concern this way and with cancelo/zinchenko in midfield as well as stones taking up the responsibility of starting attacks and not having everything go through him anymore it negates his glaring weaknesses well.

Long term I want to see him replaced with somebody more mobile but Peps done very well to find a way to make it work with the changes he's made and for now it's working well.
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Thats why some are top managers and others post on the internet
 
ninjamonkey said:
No surprise he has one of his better games against Burnley. He likes playing against them as much as the Goat did.

I think the new system suits him a lot better, he drops into the defence as he was doing beforehand but now that's what is being asked of him, his mobility issues are less of a concern this way and with cancelo/zinchenko in midfield as well as stones taking up the responsibility of starting attacks and not having everything go through him anymore it negates his glaring weaknesses well.

Long term I want to see him replaced with somebody more mobile but Peps done very well to find a way to make it work with the changes he's made and for now it's working well.
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1.2.2021 Pep "“Rodri will be the next holding midfielder here and Fernandinho is an incredible example." So how long term are you looking.
 
oldius said:
In time, everyone will appreciate what he offers. He tops nearly every midfield stat because he continually wins it, in the air and on the ground, and then he gives it with accuracy. His positional sense is immaculate.

As a footnote, we have to learn to give players time to adapt to a new country and a new league. Even someone as skilled as David Silva needed it!
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I agree. So many comments now about his "improvement", like he has suddenly transitioned from a Sunday league player to a PL player in the space of 6 weeks. The whole team has improved as a unit and because we are winning, suddenly he can't be blamed for "holding us back" or worse. Certainly the tweaks to the team that have been made have helped him and other players improved form has allowed him more freedom in attack but Imo this idea that the ugly duckling has turned into a swan is more related to people's failure to, as you say "appreciate what he offers" earlier this season than any dramatic improvement in Rodri's ability.
 
samarasra said:
I agree. So many comments now about his "improvement", like he has suddenly transitioned from a Sunday league player to a PL player in the space of 6 weeks. The whole team has improved as a unit and because we are winning, suddenly he can't be blamed for "holding us back" or worse. Certainly the tweaks to the team that have been made have helped him and other players improved form has allowed him more freedom in attack but Imo this idea that the ugly duckling has turned into a swan is more related to people's failure to, as you say "appreciate what he offers" earlier this season than any dramatic improvement in Rodri's ability.
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He was always on to a bit of a hiding last season. New player, extremely difficult position, in a team that right up until that point was good but all of a sudden got worse for reasons unrelated to him. He was a very, very, easy scapegoat. The team got worse and he was the only major change.

It wasn't easy for him, and he wasn't perfect, but it was always going to look like he was a million times worse than he actually was. But the truth is we could have still had Fernandinho there and all the same problems would have existed. And we got 81 points and did reasonably well overall in other competitions albeit with only Carabao Cup success (which Rodri scored the winning goal in); we weren't that bad last season.

Although fortunately there were enough of us on here who recognised all that and lo and behold, the team turns good and all of a sudden he's a standout. He's definitely improved (as most do in their second seasons) but it's not like he's gone from an ugly duckling into a swan all of a sudden. I'm sure the next time we don't win with him in the team he'll go back to being a problem again...

It's why I feel a tiny bit of sympathy for Thiago at Liverpool, because I see similar parallels. I hope he still fails there though, that's probably the big difference with him and Rodri.
 
oldius said:
In time, everyone will appreciate what he offers. He tops nearly every midfield stat because he continually wins it, in the air and on the ground, and then he gives it with accuracy. His positional sense is immaculate.

As a footnote, we have to learn to give players time to adapt to a new country and a new league. Even someone as skilled as David Silva needed it!
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Tbf...some of us could see his attributes from day one.away at West ham ,5nil win.he was superb.one of the most accomplished top division debuts i have ever seen.all went under the radar tho,media ignored him.......and then i had to read countless folk on here say he was shit.
Beggars belief.
 
ninjamonkey said:
No surprise he has one of his better games against Burnley. He likes playing against them as much as the Goat did.

I think the new system suits him a lot better, he drops into the defence as he was doing beforehand but now that's what is being asked of him, his mobility issues are less of a concern this way and with cancelo/zinchenko in midfield as well as stones taking up the responsibility of starting attacks and not having everything go through him anymore it negates his glaring weaknesses well.

Long term I want to see him replaced with somebody more mobile but Peps done very well to find a way to make it work with the changes he's made and for now it's working well.
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Glaring weaknesses or, as always, a work in progress that is finding its feet?

Opinions and all that but his game has come on leaps and bounds and it’s more than the tactical shift, his distribution is night and day to 12 months ago and his positional awareness better still...

We’ve done this many times and fail to apply context, he’s a young man who is developing nicely, the diamond in the rough, which he was, is beginning to sparkle!
 
FromPollockToSilva said:
Striding around like an Iberian colossus. Picks up every stray ball about 35 yards out and keeps the opponents penned in. He’s started knocking about some lovely passes too
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He hasnt just started.he did everything you describe ..on his debut at Westham away. You just didnt see it.
 
B\connellblue said:
The first 15-20 mins tomorrow will tell whether he has indeed turned the corner. They'll press him like rabid dogs, He needs to be ready.
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Be handy if the rest of the team also chipped in also...in our most recent run they have been but a good few times last year Rodri was hung out to dry by his team mates but of course he took all of the blame.
 
Zin 'messiah' Zimmer said:
Glaring weaknesses or, as always, a work in progress that is finding its feet?

Opinions and all that but his game has come on leaps and bounds and it’s more than the tactical shift, his distribution is night and day to 12 months ago and his positional awareness better still...

We’ve done this many times and fail to apply context, he’s a young man who is developing nicely, the diamond in the rough, which he was, is beginning to sparkle!
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I think that's the question at this stage. @OrigamiNinja has nailed it - it's no coincidence that Cancelo is coming into midfield and playing a blinder, and that we are seeing Rodri's weaknesses exposed much less and Rodri is playing much better. He couldn't do the fernandinho role so Pep tried the double pivot which didn't work, so he's bringing the full backs into midfield which is currently working. Instead of asking Rodri to progress the ball through midfield it's Cancelo doing it, who's much better at it (stats nerds - show me some examples of those ambiguous 'progressive' and 'through the lines' passes in a game before you start, because the ones posted so far are very obviously bullshit). If/when this gets sussed out Pep may have to think of something else, and/or hopefully Rodri can carry on and what we have seen up until the last 6 weeks or so was Rodri finding his feet. I think it's also worth noting what a hell of a shift Bernie, Gundo and the likes of Foden and Sterling are putting in around him which has complimented his game and left him exposed much less.

Also don't give me the 'he was always like this, you just didn't see it' crap because he wasn't, or if he was doing good things they were far less regular and him getting exposed was far more regular and more prominent than anything positive he was doing. He stuck a cross pinpoint on someones head the other day, and twice I think he opened them up with chips over the top. He may have done that now and then previously but not 3 times in a game or if he did it would have very much been an anomaly. Note that these balls were played in the final third when we've found him in a bit of space, which along with him sweeping up in our own third and stepping in on the front foot in the middle seems to be what and where we're seeing some of the best of him at the moment (as opposed to him picking up possession in our own third from our defence where he hasn't been so good at moving it progressively through midifeld and has too often passed it sideways most of the time).

One thing I have seen much less of him lately is his Frankenstein impression - chasing after the opposition with his arms fully stretched after they ghosted past him for the 3rd or 4th time in the game. I'm not seeing that but I am seeing him on the front foot, timing his challenges better and imposing himself more on the opposition. Seems to be learning to use his large frame better as well. Probably positive long term signs of him adapting with a bit of luck

But yea at the moment I'm happy with him, hopefully it continues. Put it this way I think it would be more of a gamble starting Fernandinho today instead of Rodri, all things considered. And hopefully no Frankenstein impressions today. Up the blues
 
The Fat el Hombre said:
I think that's the question at this stage. @OrigamiNinja has nailed it - it's no coincidence that Cancelo is coming into midfield and playing a blinder, and that we are seeing Rodri's weaknesses exposed much less and Rodri is playing much better. He couldn't do the fernandinho role so Pep tried the double pivot which didn't work, so he's bringing the full backs into midfield which is currently working. Instead of asking Rodri to progress the ball through midfield it's Cancelo doing it, who's much better at it (stats nerds - show me some examples of those ambiguous 'progressive' and 'through the lines' passes in a game before you start, because the ones posted so far are very obviously bullshit). If/when this gets sussed out Pep may have to think of something else, and/or hopefully Rodri can carry on and what we have seen up until the last 6 weeks or so was Rodri finding his feet. I think it's also worth noting what a hell of a shift Bernie, Gundo and the likes of Foden and Sterling are putting in around him which has complimented his game and left him exposed much less.

Also don't give me the 'he was always like this, you just didn't see it' crap because he wasn't, or if he was doing good things they were far less regular and him getting exposed was far more regular and more prominent than anything positive he was doing. He stuck a cross pinpoint on someones head the other day, and twice I think he opened them up with chips over the top. He may have done that now and then previously but not 3 times in a game or if he did it would have very much been an anomaly. Note that these balls were played in the final third when we've found him in a bit of space, which along with him sweeping up in our own third and stepping in on the front foot in the middle seems to be what and where we're seeing some of the best of him at the moment (as opposed to him picking up possession in our own third from our defence where he hasn't been so good at moving it progressively through midifeld and has too often passed it sideways most of the time).

One thing I have seen much less of him lately is his Frankenstein impression - chasing after the opposition with his arms fully stretched after they ghosted past him for the 3rd or 4th time in the game. I'm not seeing that but I am seeing him on the front foot, timing his challenges better and imposing himself more on the opposition. Seems to be learning to use his large frame better as well. Probably positive long term signs of him adapting with a bit of luck

But yea at the moment I'm happy with him, hopefully it continues. Put it this way I think it would be more of a gamble starting Fernandinho today instead of Rodri, all things considered. And hopefully no Frankenstein impressions today. Up the blues
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I am glad you are now pleased with him but, in my opinion, much of the rest of your post is incorrect.
 
The Fat el Hombre said:
I think that's the question at this stage. @OrigamiNinja has nailed it - it's no coincidence that Cancelo is coming into midfield and playing a blinder, and that we are seeing Rodri's weaknesses exposed much less and Rodri is playing much better. He couldn't do the fernandinho role so Pep tried the double pivot which didn't work, so he's bringing the full backs into midfield which is currently working. Instead of asking Rodri to progress the ball through midfield it's Cancelo doing it, who's much better at it (stats nerds - show me some examples of those ambiguous 'progressive' and 'through the lines' passes in a game before you start, because the ones posted so far are very obviously bullshit). If/when this gets sussed out Pep may have to think of something else, and/or hopefully Rodri can carry on and what we have seen up until the last 6 weeks or so was Rodri finding his feet. I think it's also worth noting what a hell of a shift Bernie, Gundo and the likes of Foden and Sterling are putting in around him which has complimented his game and left him exposed much less.

Also don't give me the 'he was always like this, you just didn't see it' crap because he wasn't, or if he was doing good things they were far less regular and him getting exposed was far more regular and more prominent than anything positive he was doing. He stuck a cross pinpoint on someones head the other day, and twice I think he opened them up with chips over the top. He may have done that now and then previously but not 3 times in a game or if he did it would have very much been an anomaly. Note that these balls were played in the final third when we've found him in a bit of space, which along with him sweeping up in our own third and stepping in on the front foot in the middle seems to be what and where we're seeing some of the best of him at the moment (as opposed to him picking up possession in our own third from our defence where he hasn't been so good at moving it progressively through midifeld and has too often passed it sideways most of the time).

One thing I have seen much less of him lately is his Frankenstein impression - chasing after the opposition with his arms fully stretched after they ghosted past him for the 3rd or 4th time in the game. I'm not seeing that but I am seeing him on the front foot, timing his challenges better and imposing himself more on the opposition. Seems to be learning to use his large frame better as well. Probably positive long term signs of him adapting with a bit of luck

But yea at the moment I'm happy with him, hopefully it continues. Put it this way I think it would be more of a gamble starting Fernandinho today instead of Rodri, all things considered. And hopefully no Frankenstein impressions today. Up the blues
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Absolute drivel, it’s got nothing to do with the support, more the ability to gain experience, which has been discounted...

Not like you at all but you come across as a right knobhead with that post, patronising and condescending, ‘
 
The Fat el Hombre said:
But yea at the moment I'm happy with him, hopefully it continues. Put it this way I think it would be more of a gamble starting Fernandinho today instead of Rodri, all things considered. And hopefully no Frankenstein impressions today. Up the blues
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Correct.... The rest that was cut out? Better unread :)
 
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